VIC: The suburb-by-suburb guide to car brands

Drive has scoured the census data to find out which car brands are popular in which suburbs.

VIC: The suburb-by-suburb guide to car brands

10 July 2008Richard Blackburn

The bayside suburb of Brighton is home to more luxury cars than anywhere else in Melbourne, according to the latest available census figures.

Brighton has more Aston Martins, Lamborghinis, Maseratis and Porsches than any other suburb in Melbourne. In fact, it has more Porsches than any suburb in Australia, just shading Sydney's leafy harbourside suburb of Mosman.

But Toorak is the suburb that turns accepted car buying patterns on their head. There are more Porsches in Toorak than Hyundais, despite the fact that the Korean manufacturer outsells the German brand by 35 to one in the rest of Australia.

And while Toyota may be the dominant brand in the country, in Toorak there are more Hondas, BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes. There are also three times as many Mercedes as Holdens, while it is the number one postcode for Bentley, Rolls Royce and Ferrari.

But other suburbs in Melbourne are also attracting their fair share of exotic machinery.

In the south-east of the city, Glen Waverley attracts a large number of Audis, BMW's and Lexuses, while Collingwood, Richmond and Kew are Porsche hot-spots.

Down south, Frankston likes its luxury four-wheel-drives - Land Rovers, Jeeps and Range Rovers are popular on the peninsula.

Social analyst David Chalke says that exorbitant housing prices have driven even the well-heeled into outlying suburbs.

"There's been a lot of movement out of the traditional wealth areas as those places have become stratospherically expensive," he says.

Chalke says it's logical that posh postcodes attract posh cars.

"People who share postcodes usually have a great deal in common. They tend to congregate in areas of similar social outlook," he says.

"If they are upwardly mobile they need to demonstrate that by the sort of car they drive, be it a Peugeot, Renault or BMW convertible," he says.

"It all becomes a tribal thing," he says.

He believes the proliferation of certain brands in certain suburbs is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

When a person moves to a new suburb, the cars that are common in that suburb become familiar to them. Then there is an element of mimicry and wanting to fit in (keeping up with the Joneses).

"Then there is recommendation of a certain model or brand, which is an incredibly powerful marketing tool," he says.

Ferrari and Maserati spokesman Edward Rowe says the prestige car makers target certain suburbs in their promotions, although all their advertising is done on a national basis.

"Maserati is no different to any other company that advertises, in that we know what the profile is of our typical customer and we place advertising that matches that profile, be it in terms of income, occupation, hobbies and lifestyle interests or geographical location," he says.

"With both Maserati and Ferrari, it goes without saying that we are focused on a handful of postcodes that provide a number of quality potential customers.

"We know where our customers live. We can pull out postcodes from the ABS data and look at things like average per capita income, disposable income and median house prices. You can then pinpoint by postcode the people who are going to be in the market for your car," he says.

In Melbourne, that is Brighton and Toorak and the companies will often target local newspapers in exclusive areas with public relations initiatives.

Chalke says that if a vehicle proves popular in a suburb, the local dealer does well and can then employ more staff and expand the marketing budget, which again builds recognition of the brand in a suburb.

Overall, Toyota is not as popular in Victoria as it is in the rest of Australia. The Japanese brand may outsell Ford and Holden combined Australia-wide, but in Victoria it is outnumbered by both brands.

Typically, the suburb of Belmont, near Geelong, has more Fords than any other postcode. Fords outnumber Toyotas by two to one.

Glen Waverley may have its share of luxury rides, but it's also Toyota's heartland.

The Japanese brand is also popular in Kings Park, Dandenong, Werribee and Preston.

Glen Waverley is also the number one suburb for Volkswagens, Subarus and Hondas, while Dandenong garages the most Mazdas, Nissans and Renaults.

Badge snobbery appears to be alive and well in Hawthorn, where Volvos outnumber Hyundais and Honda and BMW are in the top five brands.

Hawthorn residents appear to be attracted to Swedish cars - Saab also punches well above its weight in the suburb.

Don't expect to see much exotic Latin machinery in Melbourne's traditional Italian quarter, Carlton. There are no Lamborghinis or Maseratis registered in the postcode, only three Ferraris, just six Fiats and 36 Alfa Romeos, compared with 79 Peugeots.

Richmond appears to have a far more Italian influence - it is the number one suburb for Alfa Romeos, the number two suburb for Maseratis and number three for Ferraris.

Overall, the suburb is one of the most cosmopolitan in Melbourne, as it also has the largest collection of Citroens, the second biggest concentration of Renaults and the third biggest number of Volkswagens.

South Yarra and Kew also get their fair share of luxury cars, ranking high on the list for Audis, Aston Martins, Ferraris and Rolls Royces.

The census figures also add weight to suspicions that a lot of four-wheel-drives never see the bush.

The top five suburbs for specialist four-wheel-drive brand Range Rover are: South Yarra, Toorak, Brighton, Frankston and Richmond, while sister brand Land Rover is very popular in Brighton, Kooyong and Hawthorn.

Chalke says the results reflect the fact that the four-wheel-drive is "no longer a uniform beast".

"A four-wheel-drive can be anything from a little sporty RAV4 to a Hummer," he says.

The vehicles are also increasingly fulfilling different roles.

"The four-wheel-drive is now very much a substitute for what used to be the family car. They are no longer off-road vehicles, they are family transport and they are now spread right the way across the suburbs," he says.

In regional areas, Ford and Holden dominate the landscape, easily shading Toyota, despite its formidable range of four-wheel-drive workhorses. In Bendigo, Ford is the most popular make, with close to 7000 registered vehicles, just in front of Holden and well ahead of Toyota, which has less than 4500. In Shepparton and Ballarat, Holden turns the tables on Ford, with Toyota a distant third. In Horsham, Ford outsells Toyota by more than two to one.

At the other end of the scale, Mercedes' tiny city car, the Smart, is big in the inner city suburbs of Melbourne, South Melbourne and Carlton.

Overall, Holden is the most popular brand in Victoria, with more than 700,000 vehicles, followed by Ford and Toyota.

Holden's Commodore is easily the State's most popular nameplate, with more than 300,000 vehicles registered. Next comes the Ford Falcon, then the Toyota Corolla and Camry and the Mitsubishi Magna.

The Ford Laser is also still popular, with close to 80,000 registered, despite the fact it was discontinued in Australia in 2002.

There are still close to 4000 registered Holden Geminis on the road, more than 1000 Kingswoods and Toranas and roughly 500 Ford Cortinas and Escorts.

Eight people have registered Falcon GTHOs, which can cost up to $750,000, presumably under lock and key.